The CH-53K King Stallion heavy lift helicopter conducted sea trials aboard USS Wasp (LHD-1) in the Mid-Atlantic from June 8 – 21, 2020. US Navy photo.
The Navy has issued Lockheed Martin-owned Sikorsky a $550.4 million contract modification for the next lot of the Marine Corps’ new heavy-lift helicopter. Read More
Artist’s concept for a NOMARS design. DAPRA Image
As the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) explores designs for a ship that could operate without humans aboard, the agency is keeping the Navy involved in the effort to ensure it progresses forward should the program’s work succeed. Read More
The Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Princeton successfully launches a Block II Harpoon in the Naval Air Systems Command Sea Test Range off the coast of southern California. US Navy Photo
The U.S. State Department has authorized a possible $2.37 billion sale of Harpoon missiles to Taiwan. Read More
U.S. Marines with 1st Battalion, 2d Marine Regiment, currently attached to 4th Marine Regiment, 3d Marine Division, demonstrate expeditionary advanced basing capabilities Oct. 7 to 8, 2020, as part of Exercise Noble Fury, from Okinawa to Ie Shima and across surrounding waters. U.S. Marine Corps Photo
After successfully carrying out an integrated exercise in the Indo-Pacific region, the Navy and Marine Corps are ready to take their new level of naval integration to the joint force in an exercise next year. Read More
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper conducts Virtual Engagement with Industry Partners at the Pentagon on Oct. 21, 2020. DoD Photo
Two weeks after Defense Secretary Mark Esper unveiled the outline for his Battle Force 2045 initiative to grow the Navy to more than 500 ships, the Trump administration has yet to give final approval. Read More
USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) tested its Mark 57 vertical launch system on Oct. 13 by firing a Standard Missile 2 off California. US Navy Photo
USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) fired its first missile as part of a weapons system test off the coast of California, the Navy announced on Monday. Read More
USS Boise (SSN 764) arrived at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division to begin its 25-month extended engineering overhaul on June 18, 2018, but ultimately had to return to Naval Station Norfolk to continue awaiting maintenance because there was no room at Newport News for the sub amid two other boats’ maintenance overruns. Huntington Ingalls Industries’ photo.
The Navy is moving into the next phase of a wholesale revision of its ship maintenance infrastructure. Last week, the service announced it had started to digitally map the layout of its centuries-old Norfolk Naval Shipyard as it seeks to bring new technology and a more efficient workflow to the public yards. Read More
Italian FREMM, the basis for the FFG-62 program. Fincantieri Marine Group Image
This story was updated to include a statement from a spokesman for Navy acquisition chief James Geurts.
The lead ship in the Navy’s next-generation frigate class could cost $1.6 billion, a figure that is 40 percent above the service’s projections for the first-in-class vessel, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
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USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) transits the Eastern Pacific Ocean on Oct. 6, 2020. US Navy Photo
Littoral Combat Ship USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) is now operating in the U.S. 4th Fleet area of responsibility to aid in performing anti-drug operations after a year-long deployment in the Pacific. Read More
Battle flag of USS Barb (SS-220) including the train the crew derailed in an operation to the Japanese home islands in World War II. USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park photo
Secretary of the Navy Kenneth Braithwaite named the next Virginia-class attack boat after the famed World War II-era submarine USS Barb (SS-220) and a new destroyer after former Navy Secretary John Lehman in a Tuesday ceremony. Read More
